Saturday March 6, 2021 “Get Up, Stand Up” The Wailers

Bunny Wailer, founding member of the Wailers, later Bob Marley and the Wailers, left us the other day at age 73.

 Born Neville O'Riley Livingston he had been the last surviving member of The Wailers, following Bob Marley's death from cancer in 1981, and Peter Tosh's murder during a robbery in 1987.  Marley and Bunny Wailer had been childhood friends, essentially raised as step-brothers after Marley’s mother moved in with Bunny’s father when both boys were just youngsters.

 They met Peter Tosh when they moved to Trenchtown and formed a vocal group, the Wailing Wailers.

 The Wailers would go on from Trenchtown to achieve international fame with their 1973 album Burnin which included “I Shot the Sheriff” and today’s song “Get Up, Stand Up”.

 Bunny Wailer would leave the group shortly after that due to internal band conflicts, the rigors of touring and because "People get taken away in getting themselves to be a star and that is a different thing from getting yourself to be a good writer, musician, producer and arranger."

 Bunny Wailer would continue making music and win three Grammys in the 1990s.

 Stay safe and well...and thank you Bunny, Bob and Peter for bringing us the wonderful sounds of reggae.

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

 Preacher man, don't tell me

Heaven is under the earth

I know you don't know

What life is really worth

It's not all that glitters is gold

'Alf the story has never been told

So now you see the light, eh

Stand up for your rights come on

 Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

 Most people think

Great god will come from the skies

Take away everything

And make everybody feel high

But if you know what life is worth

You will look for yours on earth

And now you see the light

You stand up for your rights, Jah

 Get up, stand up (Jah, Jah)

Stand up for your rights (oh-hoo)

Get up, stand up (get up, stand up)

Don't give up the fight (life is your right)

Get up, stand up (so we can't give up the fight)

Stand up for your rights (Lord, Lord)

Get up, stand up (keep on struggling on)

Don't give up the fight (yeah)

 We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game

Dyin' 'n' goin' to Heaven inna Jesus' name, Lord

We know when we understand

Almighty god is a living man

You can fool some people sometimes

But you can't fool all the people all the time

So now we see the light (what you gonna do?)

We gonna stand up for our rights (yeah, yeah, yeah)

 So you better

Get up, stand up (in the morning git it up)

Stand up for your rights (stand up for our rights)

Get up, stand up

Don't give up the fight (don't give it up, don't give it up)

Get up, stand up (get up, stand up)

Stand up for your rights (get up, stand up)

Get up, stand up

Don't give up the fight (get up, stand up)

Get up, stand up

Stand up for your rights

Get up, stand up

Don't give up the fight